GSK: 50% med discount release incorrect

On Thursday FiercePharma published a story [1] based on a GlaxoSmithKline press release. According to the announcement, CEO Andrew Witty said the company was offering a 50 percent discount on meds for U.S. patients who are uninsured. That's a pretty steep price cut.

It's also not true. A GSK spokesperson, as well as a PRWeb manager, contacted us to say that the release was published in error. The release "was a test publication which was accidentally distributed through PRWeb," according to the manager. "We are currently in the process of retraction for Comtex and TradingMarkets.com. Needless to say, GlaxoSmithKline is extremely unhappy about this."

A website cited in the release--www.gsksavings.com [2]--is inactive, but records show that the domain name was purchased by GSK. "The erroneously distributed content was the product of a demo for GSK itself" said a PRWeb spokesperson. "The copy was produced just to demonstrate what a finished-product distribution would look like through our system, but it was engineered cooperatively by a GSK representative and one of our salespersons. However, it was our newswire (PRWeb.com) that initially distributed; from us to Comtex, Pheedo, Topix, and AOL, and from there to everywhere else."

A GSK spokesperson added that patients have been contacting the company due to the confusion over these benefits. She said an accurate description of all of GSK's prescription support programs can be found at www.gskforyou.com/ [3].